Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal and more particularly, to an apparatus for waterproofing a battery cover of a portable terminal in order to prevent water infiltration into the battery compartment through the battery cover.
Description of the Related Art
Portable terminals have recently evolved to multimedia devices that can provide a variety of additional services such as showing multimedia presentations, providing functions such as an electronic note taking, gaming, scheduling, and other professional and personal productivity functions. Therefore, the portable terminals have diverse functions available through connections to external devices, such as for example, listening to music, viewing movies, photographing, etc.
A portable terminal includes a battery for supplying power and a battery cover covers the battery. Along with the proliferation of portable terminals, there is an increasing demand for waterproof portable terminals in daily living. Especially, considering that a battery cover is removable from a portable terminal, a waterproofing structure is needed for the battery cover. A technology of preventing water infiltration into a battery cover is disclosed in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2011/0110022 entitled “PORTABLE TERMINAL DEVICE WITH WATERPROOF STRUCTURE” (published on May 12, 2011).
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional battery cover waterproofing apparatus for a portable terminal.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional battery cover waterproofing apparatus 10 includes a battery cover 11 mounted on a rear surface of the portable terminal and an inner waterproofing device 12 attached to the interior of the battery cover 11. To allow the inner waterproofing device 12 to be attached to the interior of the battery cover 11, the battery cover waterproofing apparatus 10 must be made thicker. Moreover, additional use of an attachment material further increases the thickness of the battery cover waterproofing apparatus 10. Since the battery cover 11 and the inner waterproofing device 12 are integrally formed, removal of the battery cover 11 from the rear surface of the portable terminal results in detachment of the inner waterproofing device 12 from the interior of the battery cover 11 due to bending of the battery cover 11. For example, portable terminals are generally classified into a folder type, a sliding type, and a bar type. Particularly, a bar-type portable terminal has a battery cover 11 mounted across a whole rear surface thereof in view of its design. When the battery cover 11 is removed from the portable terminal, the battery cover 11 is bent to some extent. The bending of the battery cover 11 generates force to detach the inner waterproofing device 12 from the interior of the battery cover 11. As a result, the inner waterproofing device 12 is easily removed.
FIG. 2 illustrates another conventional battery cover waterproofing apparatus for a portable terminal.
Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional battery cover waterproofing device 20 includes a battery cover 21 and an O-ring 22. The O-ring 22 is fit around the battery cover 21 and a protrusion 23 is formed to be engaged with a rear case of the portable terminal around the o-ring 22. To block water from leaking into a battery, the protrusion 23 has a four-sided opening structure.
It is difficult to injection-mold the four-sided opening, that is, to create undercuts on four surfaces. Moreover, to achieve the four-sided opening structure, the battery cover 21 is injection-molded to have a flat surface without any curve. Therefore, limitations are imposed on the design of the battery cover 21.
It is also difficult to injection-mold an engagement structure for engaging the battery cover 21 with the portable terminal, together with the four-sided opening structure. The O-ring 20 can readily become separated or removed from the four-sided opening structure, making waterproofing less effective. Additionally, if the O-ring 20 is not fit perfectly around the four-sided opening structure, waterproofing effectiveness is decreased. Another drawback of the battery cover waterproofing apparatuses illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is that the battery cover must be made thicker due to the inner waterproofing device or the four-sided opening structure.